Circuit Breakers: A Look at the Yankees’ Longest Homerless Streaks

Jorge Posada’s sixth inning home run in the first game of today’s day/night doubleheader was his seventh of the season, but first since April 24. The two-run blast, which gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead, also ended the longest homerless streak in Posada’s career. The 38-game drought was one day longer than a previous power outage that lasted between the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

Power Outages Among Yankees’ Regulars

Player	Tm	Strk Start	End	G	AB	BA	OBP	SLG
Brett Gardner	NYY	7/5/2010	4/19/2011	84	273	0.212	0.337	0.297
Derek Jeter	NYY	5/10/1997	8/6/1997	75	311	0.289	0.359	0.357
Russell Martin	LAD	9/27/2008	6/19/2009	62	222	0.239	0.350	0.279
Robinson Cano	NYY	5/9/2008	6/24/2008	41	153	0.288	0.319	0.366
Jorge Posada	NYY	4/24/2011	6/19/2011	38	124	0.250	0.329	0.323
Nick Swisher	OAK	4/15/2005	6/15/2005	33	117	0.222	0.300	0.274
Alex Rodriguez	SEA	7/8/1994	6/11/1995	32	101	0.228	0.248	0.257
Curtis Granderson	DET	6/24/2006	7/28/2006	27	105	0.276	0.333	0.324
Mark Teixeira	NYY	6/13/2009	7/8/2009	23	92	0.261	0.370	0.326

Source: Baseball-reference.com

Posada’s career-high homerless streaks ranks in the middle of the pack when compared to similar stretches endured by the other regulars in the Yankees’ lineup. Not surprisingly, the longest streak without a homer belongs to Brett Gardner, while the shortest span between home runs is enjoyed by Mark Teixeira. However, it is interesting to note that regardless of each hitter’s profile, their home run drought was also accompanied by a more pervasive slump.

Although Posada has already shown signs that his season-long doldrums are in the past (he was hitting .432/.450/.514 in his previous 40 plate appearances entering today’s action), perhaps this afternoon’s homerun is the final confirmation? The Yankees could definitely use more power from the DH slot, and if he is anywhere near his old self, Posada is more than capable of supplying it.

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